JUMLA: The National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) has held a stakeholder consultation workshop in Jumla as part of preparations for a Karnali-focused climate resilience project proposed for support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

NTNC, a Direct Access Accredited Entity to the GCF, organised the consultation to gather local inputs for developing a project aimed at strengthening climate resilience among forest-dependent and climate-vulnerable communities in Karnali Province.

The workshop brought together representatives from local governments (palikas), district-level offices and key stakeholders, including the Division Forest Office, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), community forest user groups, local entrepreneurs and other institutions.

Participants shared local knowledge, field-level challenges and strategic recommendations, which NTNC said will be incorporated into the final project proposal to ensure the intervention responds to ground realities.

The consultation was chaired by Gauri Nanda Acharya, Chairperson of the District Coordination Committee, Jumla. The programme was organised by NTNC with technical support from RAIN TA SLU, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Dr. Manish Raj Pandey, Head of NTNC’s Climate Change Department, presented the project concept and objectives, while Ajit Tumbahangfe, Project Chief of the Bardiya Conservation Programme, highlighted the urgency of climate-resilient interventions in the Karnali landscape.

NTNC said the consultation marks an important step toward locally led climate action and long-term resilience planning in one of Nepal’s most climate-vulnerable regions.